What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after stocks gave back some of the gains from the previous day as the White House clarified the tariffs on imports from China would add up to 145%, while the baseline 10% tariffs remained in place for most countries. This added layer of uncertainty reminded investors that the global trade environment remained volatile, limiting the potential for sustained market gains.
Also President Trump indicated he was willing to accept pain in the short term, and was aware his policies could cause a recession, but he remained more mindful of a more severe case of economic depression (higher unemployment and prolonged downturn). For investors, this suggested that the administration could prioritize long-term structural shifts over near-term economic stability, further increasing policy-driven risk in the markets.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, following stocks were impacted:
- Home Builders company Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) fell 6.2%. Is now the time to buy Meritage Homes? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Builders company TopBuild (NYSE:BLD) fell 6.6%. Is now the time to buy TopBuild? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Builders company Installed Building Products (NYSE:IBP) fell 5%. Is now the time to buy Installed Building Products? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Home Builders company Champion Homes (NYSE:SKY) fell 5.6%. Is now the time to buy Champion Homes? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Medical Devices & Supplies - Diversified company Stryker (NYSE:SYK) fell 6%. Is now the time to buy Stryker? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On TopBuild (BLD)
TopBuild’s shares are very volatile and have had 22 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 8 months ago when the stock dropped 11.3% on the news that the company reported weak second-quarter earnings results. Its revenue unfortunately missed, and its EPS fell short of Wall Street's estimates. The results were pressured by weak volumes given higher interest rates, project delays, and supply constraints. Overall, this was a bad quarter for TopBuild.
TopBuild is down 8.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $283.83 per share, it is trading 40.8% below its 52-week high of $479.09 from July 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of TopBuild’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,729.
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